ISU education students to earn credits tutoring in elementary schools

A new course at Iowa State University will allow dozens of education students to earn academic credit while tutoring at local elementary schools this fall.

A new course at Iowa State University will allow dozens of education students to earn academic credit while tutoring at local elementary schools this fall.

The partnership with the Ames Community School District was formed last year, with ISU students volunteering at Sawyer Elementary. The program is now being expanded as a growing number of elementary education majors look to get some first-hand classroom experience under their belt.

Amid the increased interest — 74 students volunteered as after-school tutors this spring — ISU created the one-credit course that will be introduced this fall, called the Cyclone Learning Zone.

“What’s really cool is that this is above and beyond what they have to do to become a licensed teacher,” said Anne Estapa, an assistant professor in ISU’s School of Education.

“This really is showing their commitment to wanting to be an effective teacher.”

Starting this fall, up to 100 students from ISU will be deployed to four Ames elementary schools to provide intensive tutoring in the critical subjects of reading and math. The program eventually will include all five of the district’s elementary schools, with Fellows added last, Estapa said.

ISU students will be required to complete a total of 24 hour-long tutoring sessions during the semester, and each will work with one to three elementary students.

The tutors will serve roughly 115 elementary students, who will be chosen based on their academic needs, and will have supervision and lesson plan support from teachers at each school.

The partnership evolved after the school district’s alternative program director, Yonas Michael, contacted ISU in search of tutoring options for students at Sawyer Elementary, where the then-principal was focused on helping kids in kindergarten through third grades do better in reading.

That particular age group is crucial when considering academic success in later years, said Michael, who was able to track how well this first group of elementary students did after they were tutored.

“Every kid that was part of that program grew in their reading levels,” Michael said.

ISU is now touting the tutoring program in the Ames school district as a model, and highlighted a growing demand at the state and national level for more after-school programming.

Michael was also optimistic their efforts could be replicated, but said it takes a strong commitment.

“I think it is something that can certainly be modeled in other districts,” he said.